Hermit crabs

[Luvmyzoocrew]

well we went camping and there was an amusement part attached to the campground, and they had a kiosk type of thing that had hermit crabs, so after the incident of the fiddler crabs i wanted to get hermit crabs so we got one, with the intentions of adding one or two more at a later date. So i want to see your setups if you have pics and let me know any good places to fi nd out all i need to know. I did get him/her another shell and it is in a 20 gallon tank with a few things, salt water dish and a reg water dish, a piece of bark thing to climb and a few aquatic plastic plants to hide in.



i was at petsmart and seen thier crabs and was checking out some shells but the shells are alot of money and i wanted to get a bunch but they didnt have what i thought was big enough of a shell for him, so i would like to know where to get shells also



please wish me luck with this lil guy,lol, that he doesnt have the same fate as the fiddlers, i hope that i am doing what i am suppose to ,lol

 

[MyLOVEABLES!!]

I never knew you could have hermit crabs as pets!

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

ha ha, yes you can, at least here you can. He is kind of cute

 

[paul2641]

Luvmyzoocrew wrote:

ha ha, yes you can, at least here you can. He is kind of cute

I think I saw a hermit crap before do they have the same kind of set up as a reptile?

 

[Flashy]

I'm sorry, the subtitle of this thread made me laugh so much. But I have a polluted mind. *hangs head in shame*

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

ha ha ha flashy, lol

Paul from what i have read they have sand subtrate, climbing things, they need humidity, fresh water, salt water. I have him in a 20 gallon tank right now.

 

[paul2641]

Luvmyzoocrew wrote:

ha ha ha flashy, lol

Paul from what i have read they have sand subtrate, climbing things, they need humidity, fresh water, salt water. I have him in a 20 gallon tank right now.

Yeah that is what I pictured, I think that is what I say sounds like a cute little bugger!

 

[irishbunny]

Don't think I have ever seen one before, sale here, good luck with him and post pictures soon!

 

[slavetoabunny]

What kind of shells are you looking for? I may be able to go into one of the beachside tourist shops and get one cheap.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

Patti i am not sure i dont know if you need ones specifically for hermit crabs, i dont konw if they are treated or anything. i do have one for him , other then the one that he is wearing lol. I will try to get pics of him tonight when he comes out, they come out at night. I am going to Michaels tommorrow , i hope, for some net for the back of his cage to climb

 

[whaleyk98]

My sister has 3 and they NEED humidity. They can eat , and will eat, pretty much anything. They love to climb....but I dont like having them as they are very fragile....for example, They get really stressed out during molting time and they easily die....my sisters died after being under the sand for over a month. It stressed him out way too much. Make sure you research, research, research. Otherwise I think they are neat pets.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

Here is his setup, he is in a shark shell. Today i bought some chocca wood, fishing net, and some shells at michaels craft store just to see. There are two containers the blue one has bottled water, and the one with the sponge has bottled salt water, i also put some shells in there. I just went in there now and he switched shells, they often change shells and try the other ones on when you get new ones. I guess that these shells are ok, at least i hope. It is not a fabulous setup but we will see how it goes

 

[irishbunny]

Aw he's cool but I would never touch him haha

 

[kherrmann3]

Flashy wrote:

I'm sorry, the subtitle of this thread made me laugh so much. But I have a polluted mind. *hangs head in shame*

Same here... h34r2

I used to have Hermit Crabs, but I had terrible luck with them. I had three bugger-off before I gave up. I had the little tiny ones, though. They were so small, they could fit on a penny (with their shell, too!). Mine only lived in a 5[sup]1/2[/sup] gallon tank, since they were so small at the time (I had a 10 and 20 gallon tank on hand for when they got bigger). They had lots of plastic plants to crawl around on and some lava rock. They loved to crawl up the lava rock. I misted them like I was supposed to and made such their little water sponge was always wet. Still, no luck. I have "a gift" with some pets, but not the poor little Hermies.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

ha ha Irish bunny i thought i would be freaked out but he is neat, i have taken him out and he will crawl on my hand,kind of creepy though cause i do like to eat crabs, but no worries he is too small for me to eat,lol!!!!

Kherman3 i have salt water thing with a sponge and i have been smoothing the sand out to see where he moves at night,lol. He is still in thet new shell, i guess he likes that one better then the tie dye one,lol. I havent been misting him but the sides of the tank so that the sand is damp, like sand castle material. He is looking dull looking , i have heard that could be a sign that he is going to molt? dont know, i have o nly had him a few days, 4 to be exact and he is doing better then the fiddlers did,lol. I want to get maybe two more for the tank but i want to see how it goes with him for a few more days

 

[undergunfire]

Aww, he is kinda cute .

Don't they need a heat lamp, moss, and some sort of dirt? I have seen pictures of hermit crab set ups that were very humid and "natural" looking.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

you can use moss, or sand, sometimes they mixed coconut moss with the sand. As far as heat lamps i have seen so far that some say to have them and some dont so as of now i am going without

 

[paul2641]

Whoa what a cutie!

 

[kherrmann3]

I had that "Reptile Bark" bedding for my little Hermies when I had them.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

He is cute! I have a soft spot for crabbies because they were my first ever pet when I was 7 or so. I loved my little crabs and took such good care of them. I would set up obstacle courses and have them race... I remember the first time one of them molted, I was inconsolable because I found her skin and thought she was dead. Talk about a happy surprise when I picked up her shell and she was just fine! I've been thinking about getting hermit crabs again because they were so fun when I was little. You may have already checked it out, but this is an awesome crabbie web site: http://hermit-crabs.com/ It really goes into detail about how you need to keep the aquarium, what to feed them, how to handle molting, etc. Oh and an interesting fact that I discovered from reading that web site a couple weeks ago: hermit crabs don't carry salmonella! I always thought they could, but they aren't reptiles. For a germ freak like me, that's great news, plus they're safer to have around children.